Environmental policy
Our environmental policy sets out our goals for managing our environmental impact and improving our performance - it applies to all our services except schools.
What does the policy cover?
- tackling climate change
- preventing pollution
- protecting and improving open space and wildlife
- our use of energy, water and raw materials
- reducing and recycling waste
- promoting sustainable buildings and travel.
Implementing the policy
Our staff follow procedures designed to protect the environment and comply with legal requirements in all our day to day activities. We also take account of the policy whenever we plan new projects, or make decisions about changes to our services.
We set ourselves ambitious targets for implementing key areas in the policy and publish actions to achieve them. You can find the current targets and actions in our sustainability action plan which you can find on the following link:
We aim to be a leader in environmental improvement, and have maintained independent accreditation for our approach for more than 15 years. In 2016, we achieved a new international standard for environmental management called ISO14001: 2015. You can find out more about ISO14001: 2015 using the link below:
Information for our suppliers
We recognise that much of our environmental impact comes from goods we buy and services that we commission. For this reason, we sometimes expect our suppliers to meet environmental standards if the product or service has significant impact. Where this is the case, we will always specify clearly what we need when we invite quotations or tenders. We may also sometimes ask suppliers to tell us about any environmental features, or implications of their product or service when they tender or quote. We use this information as part of our evaluation.
Some examples of areas that are of interest to us are given below, although this is not the complete list:
- Timber products - we require these to be from legal and sustainable sources
- Paper and printing - we have standards for the recycled content
- Plants and composts/growing media - these should normally be peat free
- Vehicles - we consider emissions when we buy vehicles or commission services involving significant travel or transportation
- Chemicals and paints - we look for products with no/low hazardous or polluting contents where these can do the job effectively.
For larger and particularly significant contracts we may sometimes look to negotiate additional environmental benefits for the community as a form of social value.
Contact us
If you have a question about our sustainability work use the contact methods below to get in touch with us:
Send us an email
Ring us: 0116 454 2110